Mulvey was a Feminist theorist who came up with the male
gaze theory, and Schroeder supports it by stating that when a man looks at a
woman, it implies that there is a psychological sense of the man been superior to
the woman he is looking at.
The clip from Charlie’s angels somewhat goes against the
male gaze view. Charlie’s angels depicts three female secret agents which work
for a man named Charlie. The film is very action packed, and the characters are
depicted as being strong and independent. Although this is the case, there are
a few scenes that depict women as sexual objects like the scene below
However, it can be argued that the male gaze is not represented
in the scene, as it does not show any men looking at the women; therefore it
can be difficult to imply that a male gaze is happening at this time.
For the most part, the trailer depicts the angels doing
things that are typically men’s activities. In one of the scenes, one of the
angels is shown riding a dirt bike. She is not wearing any revealing clothes;
her clothes are practical for what she is doing. The scene also doesn’t show
any men looking at her in a sexual way; therefore this scene goes against
Mulvey and Schroeder’s theories.
However, there is a scene that supports Mulvey and Schroeder’s
theories. The scene involves one of the main female characters getting into a
Ferrari, dressed in just a bikini. The editing particular implies this is
intended for the sexual satisfaction of male viewers, as there are two shots of
this, one of which occurs in slow motion, so that male viewers can get a longer
look at the woman.
In contrast, there is a scene in which a man is being held
against his will and one of the female characters comes to save him doesn’t support
Mulvey and Schroeder’s views. It presents the view that women can be the strong
gender, and are capable of being the ones doing the saving instead of being a
damsel in distress.
As you can see, the man is not looking at her with sexual
desire, but with relief as he is beings saved by her.
However, some media texts heavily present the male gaze,
such as the film Bad teacher. The film centres around a misbehaving teacher who
moves to a new school, and decides to raise money to get breast enhancement
surgery to impress a male teacher whom she likes. The film is clearly marketed
towards men, as it centres around a female character whose main goal is to
improve her body. There are many shots in the trailer which present her in a
sexually objectified way.
This scene clearly presents that this movie has examples of
the male gaze, as she is the only thing in shot, and is wearing revealing
clothing and posing in a way that is meant to attract men to look at her body.
